Photo By: Alana Ann Lopez
Polyphia, a band most known for their intricate instrumental sound and genre-bending tendencies, has released their fourth studio album, Remember That You Will Die, with Rise Records. Their last record, New Levels New Devils, was released back in 2018, leaving four years between these albums. And yet, this new album feels even more like Polyphia–if that’s even possible.
In true Polyphia fashion, Remember That You Will Die is littered with collaborations with musicians from varying genres that are all extremely talented in their own right. To name a few of the legendary artists featured: Chino Moreno of Deftones, rapper Lil West, and singer-songwriter Sophia Black.
From start to finish, the album is an enjoyable ride with obvious standouts but there is not a single bad song on the entire thing. In fact, here’s our insight into each song, track by track.
The album starts off strong with that signature Polyphia sound and expert use of horns. “Genesis (feat. Brasstracks)” is extremely smooth and is the perfect start. Brasstracks was such a cool addition to this song. The horns stand out and bring an elevated element to the song that feels like the perfect missing puzzle piece.
“Playing God” was the first song released from the album back in March. It was a perfect introduction and inside look into the sound the band chose to take the rest of the album in. In fact, it feels like a continuation of Genesis in the way that the songs flow into each other perfectly. Yet, instead of smooth and jazzy, we’re met with an energetic and sinuous sound. It feels intentional and is done tactfully.
About halfway in is when “The Audacity (feat. Anomalie)” breaks out of its shell, and Anomalie really shines. From the beginning of the song, the keys are heard, but once the two different styles get comfortable with each other, it becomes obvious that the guitar riffs dance around the keys in such a playful way. More prominently, expert drumming stands out against the keys. While the keys glide, the cymbal crashes bounce. The juxtaposition of sounds make this track so fun.
“Reverie” feels the most like a common Polyphia song in the best way. It fits that “jamming out in the car while bobbing your head the whole time” vibe that matches previous masterpieces like “G.O.A.T” and “Champagne.” Sometimes staying classic and true to your sound just works.
As a personal favorite and an overall standout on the album, “ABC (feat. Sophia Black)” is absolutely phenomenal. The track was released as a single alongside the announcement of the album a little over a month before the album’s release date. In that short period of time, it accumulated almost 5 million listens on Spotify and 3 million views on YouTube. That should come as no surprise, as the song is original, catchy, and completely unique. There isn’t a Polyphia song like it. In fact, there isn’t another song by anybody that feels anywhere near the same. It’s such a jam and has already been added to preshow playlists of all sorts of tours.
“Memento Mori (feat. Killstation)” is instrumentally tactful and lyrically relatable. The way the music carries Killstation’s voice is angelic and adds an interesting element to the song’s overall meaning. Lyrically, it’s pretty serious and promising, and when the words stop, guitar solos fill the empty space in their own consequential way.
“Fuck Around and Find Out (feat. $not)” is an interesting combination of genres and styles. Adding rock-centric instruments under today’s style of rap creates an intricate and distinctive sound that cannot be easily replicated.
“All Falls Apart” is devastatingly beautiful. At only a one minute and twenty seconds, it is the shortest song on the album but is striking. The whine of the guitars feels like an outcry and allows the song to tell its own short story.
“Neurotica” feels like it is straight out of a pixel-style video game. The beginning feels like we just started up a new save of our favorite game, and by the end, we’ve battled a hard boss and lost a life or two along the way. It is interesting and mature in a while that comes off as intentionally juvenile and entertaining. We might as well get out our Tamagotchis or Nintendo Switches while listening to this one.
While “Chimera (feat. Lil West)” is fundamentally the same as Fuck Around and Find Out, it is completely different. With intricate guitar parts, it take on a Spanish style for the first half of the song, and when Lil West finally comes in, the style is entirely different. This allows him to take the spotlight and really shine.
Another stand out on the album is “Bloodbath (feat. Chino Moreno).” It is no surprise that Chino, the singer of Deftones, sounds incredible, but his voice is elevated alongside Polyphia. This one is undeniably cool. While gritty, it still has a heavenly approach that ramps up to something explosive.
While “Ego Death (feat. Steve Vai)” has been out for a few week, it still finishes out the album perfectly. Steve Vai is a legendary rock star, and Polyphia seem to respect that in the way their own guitarists, Tim Henson and Scott LePage, back him up and seem truly inspired by his sound. They play off of him perfectly and sound amazing while doing so. This song feels like the big red bow on a huge present, bringing all the pieces of what makes this album unique and creating a masterpiece that feels like the last statement of a great argument. As the song comes to a close, the album feels perfectly wrapped up and concluded.
You can listen to “Remember That You Will Die” here:
